Fault-locating apparatus.



LLOYD c. NICHOLSON, OF-BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

FAULT-LocATING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that I, LLOYD C. NICHOLSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Buffalo, county of Erie, State ofNew' LYOIk, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Fault-Locating Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to'the location of faults applicable to the location of a fault onan alternating-current-high tension transmissionline. These lines are of great length and frequently develop faults of such a nature, as for example, the development of a defective insulator, as to put the system out of commission until the fault is repaired. It is of the utmost im ortance that the fault shall be located wit reasonable closeness in as short a timeas possible and that any test made for the purpose of locating'the fault should be conducted with rapidity and without producing destructive effects. At the same time these faults, which usually take the form of the partial. grounding of one of the conductors at an insulator, are frequently of such a nature as to require the full normal volta ye of the line in order that they may be deve oped. When such a fault has been developed by this high potential'a large current will flow through an,arc to ground.

I have employed my invention and. will illustrate anddesoribe it in connection with a three phase transmission line in which the secondaries of the stepup transformers used at the generating station are star connected,

' the neutral point being connected to ground.

suitable source of ent instance is i'ndlcatedas the usualpower The invention is, however, applicable to other arrangements and connections with such minor changes as will readily occur to .those skilled in the art.

My'invention involves-the provision of apparatus by which the fault can be rapid y located without a continued, flow of a destructive current and without requiring adjustment of the testing apparatus during the continuance of the test.

According to my invention I connect 'the conductors or some of them of the system in a loop which'contains the faulty conductor, and connect this loop to one terminal of a ower, which in the prestransformerof thegenerating station, and I determine the location of the fault by comparing the measurements of two measurin instruments so connected as to indicateby Specification of Letters Patent. Application flied March 7.1907. Serial No. 361.011.

placed in the two locating the fault on electric circuits, being especially applied to the fault ating' stat1on.1

Patented March 3, 190a.

from. the source of power to the fault. These two instruments are in the present instance their relative measurements the relative impedances' of; the two branches of the loop connected respectlvely t0 thesecondaries ofv two series transformers whose primaries are branches of the loop. By in accordance with dications of these two instruments the fault may be located without the necessity of adjusting any apparatus during the progress of the test, and the results can be arrived at almost instantaneously, thus obviating the necessity. of injuring the conductor by anontinued are at the fault. a V

A further feature of my invention involves the provision of asufficiently high voltage toinsure the develo ment' of the same and the provision of means that will reduce or limit the current destructive effects ofthe' arc and kee power consumed during the-test within the capacity of the generator .and within the range of the measuring instruments. I have found that good results may be obtained by providing an impedance series with the source of power and the loop and shunting this impedance with an inclosed fuse. This enables me to raise -the voltage of thecii'cuit to a point at which the arc to ground will develo while the inclosed fuse will be burned developed thus throwing the impedance into circuit and permitting current to ass through the circuit. The

the infor the purpose of the'test,

in the circuit to reduce the p the but a-relatively small by t e current flowing after the arc has been same genera result may also be attained by employing, as the imfpedance, an inductance of-proper value too set the condensance of the line, as'hereinafter explained, in.whi'ch a fuse, or its equivalent, need not necessarily be'employed'.

I My invention also comprises more specific 1 features of the combinatlon and arrangement of apparatus, including the specific.

combination I have employed on a poly'phase transmission system.

One specific embodiment of invention is illustrateddiagrammatically in Figure 1 of" the accom an ying drawings. Fig. 2 indicatesamo' cation. l

A indicates a three phase generator-[which may be considered as re resenting one or more 1118.111 generators of 'a gh tensiongener B" :13. indicate, respectively, the'primaris flowing, indicating and secondaries of stepup transformers through which the high tension current is fed to the transmission line comprising the conductors O, C, 0 The particular transformers illustrated have their primaries B delta connected, while their secondaries B are star connected, the neutral point I) being normally connected to ground, as indicated. it will be understood that these transmission lines maybe of very great length, the particular line upon which 1 have used my invention being over one hundred miles in length. At 0 I have indicated a fault upon the conductor C by a connection from that conductor to ground. During the normal operation of the system after such a fault develops itwill readily be noted at the power house, and the particular conductor in which it is, is known by the indications of the measuring instruments. 1 have not illustrated and will not describe these nor their connections as these are well known in the art.

D, D, D represent switches connected to the conductors from the secondaries B and arranged as indicated to connect said secondaries either with the-lines G, C, 0*, or to connect thesecondaries with the conductor d, or to open the circuit from its secondary.

Switches E, E, E are arranged to connect or disconnect any of the conductors C, C, C with the conductor 2' as indicated. Between the conductors d and e is an inclosed fuse F shunting an impedance G which may be either a non-inductive or an inductive impedance, it not being. essential to my invention what character of impedance or impedances are employed. By impedances I mean any apparatus or device that is constructed or arranged to obstruct or limit or reduce the current flowing, and by an in- .ductive impedance or inductance I mean any of the wide variety of apparatus employing an inductive action and used to obstruct or limit or reduce the current flowing.

H, H, H indicate series transformers whose primaries are connected in conductors C, C, 0 Thesecondaries of these transformers are connected to electrical measuring instruments which give a -registration determinative of the currents flowing in the respective conductors C, C, C. These instruments may be indicating,-integrating or recording instruments. Except where the fault is of such a character as to cause extremely rapid fluctuations of the currents instruments are sufiiciently satisfactory, although they have the disadvantage of requiring that the two readings, hereafter referred to, must be simultaneouslydnade.

When the station attendant observes that there is a fault such as indicated on the con ductor C and desires to locate that fault, he

gives telephonic instructions to an attendant at the other end of the transmission line to disconnect the receiving apparatus from the line and connect the faulty conductor with one of the other conductors as by switch C The station attendant at the generating end then manipulates such of the switches D, D,

as may be necessary to connect the faulty conductor C to the conductorwhich has been connected at the other end,

in the present instance, the conductor C, this being effected by connecting conductor C and C to the conductor e by the switches E, E. Switch D is opened to disconnect conductor C from the secondary of the power transformers, while switch D is thrown to connect a secondary of the power transformers with the conductors d.

The connection of'the various apparatus in this manner causes acircuit to be established from one of the secondaries of the power transformers through the impedances G, G and fuse F in shunt therewith, then throughthe conductor 6 and thence to the fault through parallel branches of the loop formed by the conductors C, C, switch C and switches E and E, the circuit from the fault being completed through the ground to the point I) of the power transformers.

The fuse F is provided to enable a sufficient voltage to be applied at the fault to enable the arc to develop thereat, even though the fault be only a partial one, otherwise a substantial amount of current in the conductors at the voltage necessary to cause the arc to develop because of t e electrostatic capacity of the conductors, which would require an increased voltage at the generatingstation due to the'fact that the will be required impedances G (unless designed to have an suitably proportioned high imductance) will, at'the current required by the conductors, absorb a great proportion of the voltage. On the other hand, I have provided the impedances, as will appear, in order to reduce or limit the current after the fault has developed to a safe and desirable value. sufficiently high voltage, therefore, is applied to the fault to develop an arc;

If this is followed by a rush of current of a greater value than that for which the fuse is designed, the fuse will burn out and place the impedance G inseries with the loop. This'reduces the current to a desirable value and one that can be readily measured by the instruments J, J", the transformer H and the instrument J 2 not being in use at the particular'test assumed. The currents indicated by the instruments J and J are inversely proportional to the imedanc'e of the respective branches of the oopv to the fault, one "branch being outward from the switch E, C, through the switches Oand C and thence back through the conductor 0. to the fault through the conductor- I stants of the circuit are known.

while the other is a shorter path from the switch E, through. the conductor C directly,

to the fault.

found in practice that the simplest and most I accurate method of 10.

the same one complete 0 determining the exact location is to divide the difference between the readings of the two instruments in the .two branches of the loop by the sum of said readings, this always being proportional to the ratio between the impedances of the far end of the faulty conductor to the fault and the impedance of the whole of the faulty conductor. Upon this information it is possible to employ a simple'chart which can be used to readily locate the geographical osition of any fault upon any transmission ine whose electrical constants are known.

I have described the operation of the apparatus with reference to a fault developed in that fault by the connection of the conductors C and C in a loop. It is to be understood that the various apparatus, as shown, is such as to a plv rinciple of locating faults to a fault develope in any one of the three conductors,

and that either or both of the conductors may becombined with it to form a loop. Oc'casionally faults may develop between two of theconductors. It is obvious that the apparatus as constituting my invention is equally applicable to locate a fault of this aracter.

In Fig. 2 I have indicated an inductive im- 'pedance G occupying the same position in the circuit as the impedance G (inductiveor :noninductive) but not shunted by the fuse .and' therefore-permanently in the testing circuit.

If this inductance G is of such value asto substantially ofiset the condensance of the transmission line so that a sufficientlv high voltage may be applied to the fault .while the inductance G is in circuit to develop that fault then it will not be necessary to employ a fuse or an equivalent for the fuse. This is true because under thesev conditions despite the presence of the impedance G the .fau

t will develop while such im edance will limit the flow 0 current after t e fault has developed. It is, of course, well known that an inductance and a condensance in series neutralize each others effects holly according to the relative two. v

It will be understood that while I have shown numerous details order to indicate perative system, yet that the various details illustrated are not essential to partially or values of the my invention.

I have illustrated and described several specific features of my invention, but in its broader phase the invention is not limited to dance ratio of the the employment of all such features. I have in the two branches of the loop may be indicated. It will be understood that the two instruments need not necessarily be connected. in the two branches of the loop provided they are so connected as to measure currents from which the relative im edan'ces, of the two branches of the loop may e determined. Again it should be understood that it is not essential to my invention what specific portion of the circuit between the generator A and the loop the impedance orimpedances are placed, and so far as my invention in its broader hase is concerned, it is immaterial which of the well known-meansfor reducing or limiting currents in a circuit are employed. It is, of course, obvious that my invention is equally applicable whether applied to multiphase circuit, as shown, onto some other kind of system of distribution. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is,

1. A means'for locating faults comprising a source of electricity, a loop connected to one terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor, means for applying a high voltage to said fault, means responsive to the flow of current to said fault for limiting said current while maintaining the same impeloop for determining the relative impedances of the branches of the loop to the fault.

2. A means for locating faults comprising a source of electricity, a loop connected to two branches to the fault, and means acted upon by the currents 1n sa d one, terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor, means for applying a high voltage to said fault, means responsive to the flow of'current to said fault for limiting said current while maintaining the same impedance ratio of the two branches to the fault,- and two measuring instruments so connected as to show currents determinative of the relative 'impedances of the two branches to the fault. v

3. A means for locating faultscomprising a sourceof electricity, a loop connected to one terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor, means for applying a high voltage to said fault, means responsive to the flow of current to said fault for limiting said current while maintaining the same impedance ratio of the two branches to the fault, a'transformer in each branch of the loop, and a measuring instrument connected to-- the secondary of each transformer.

4. A means for locating faults comprising a source of electricity, a loop connected to one terminal thereof" voltage to said fault, means responsive to the flow of current to said fault for limiting said and containing the faulty conductor, means for applying a high connected current while maintaining the same impedance ratio of the two branches to the fault, a

transformer in each branch of the loop and means connected to the secondaries of said transformers for determining the relative currents therein.

5. A means for locating faults comprising a source of electricity, a loop connected to one terminal thereof and containing a faulty conductor, an impedance in series with the source and the loop, a current operated circuit opener shunting said impedance, and means acted upon bythe currents in said loop for determining the relative impedances of the'two branches to the fault.

6. A means for locating faults comprising a source of electricity, a loopv connected to one terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor, an impedance in series with the source and the loop, an inclosed fuse shunting said impedance, and means acted upon by the currents in said loop for determiningthe relative impedances of the two branches to the fault.

7. A means for locatlng'faults comprising.

a source of electricity, a loop connected to one terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor, an impedance injseries with the source and the loop, a current operated circuit opener shunting, said impedance, and two measuring instruments so as to register currents determinative of the relative impedances of the two branches to the fault.

8. A means for locating-faults comprising a source of electricity, a loop connected to one terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor, an-impedance in series with the source and the loop, a current operated circuit opener shuntmgisaid impedance, a transformer ineach branch of the loop, and a measuring instrument connected to the secondary of each transformer.

A means for locatmgfaults comprising aso'urce of electricity, a loop connected to .one terminal thereof and containing the faulty conductor,. an impedance in serles with the sourceend the loop, a' current operated circuit opener shunting said impedance, two transformers connec'ted'in diferent conductors of the circuit, and means acted upon by the currents in'the secondaries of said transformers for determining the relative impedances of the two branches to the fault-I 10. The combination of a polyphase genstepup transformers having star connected secondaries and a grounded connection from the neutral point of the secondaries, means for connecting a grounded conductor in a loop with another conductor, means for limiting the current in the circuit of the grounded conductor, after the ground has been developed and instruments connected to show currents int-he circuit determinative of the relative impedances of the two branches of the loop to the ground.

12. The combination of a polyphase generator, a transmission line, intermediate stepup transformers having star-connected secondaries and a grounded connection from the neutral point of the secondaries, means for connecting a grounded conductor in a loop with another conductor, means for limiting the current in the circuit after the ground has been developed, two current transformers located to receive currents determinative of the relative impedancesof the two branches of the loop to the ground, and means connected to the secondaries of said transformers for determining said relative impedances.

13. A means for locating faults on alternating current circuits having substantial condensance, comprising a source of electricity, a loop containing the faulty consource and the fault, and means acted upon by the currents in said. loop for determining the relative impedances of the two branches to the fault.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. LLOYD C. NICHOLSON. Witnesses:

EDWIN SEGER,

A. DALY. 

